broken clavicle...surgery or not?

Dustin07

yeah, different strokes for different folks. some people are really bothered by the scar. And that's OK. Waiting is probably best for you. For me, I dig the scar and I'm also super happy about being at the gym only 2 months after the break (not trying to rub it in) but I'm also the kind of person that is severely affected when I don't get to exercise (mentally) so this was an appropriate choice for me I think.

chiabin

Anyone out there with a non-union collarbone? I broke mine 10 weeks ago and have been told that there is no union given the extent of the displacement and there will not now be any union unless I have surgery and bone graft. The latest Xrays show no union. The bone moves around quite a bit. There is definitely no healing going on.

I'm not in any pain and have full movement. My specialist advises against surgery given no pain etc.

Anyone had a similar experience i.e. non union and no surgery and carried on for months or years like that? Coming off bike again and landing on that shoulder with bone floating around is problematical is it not?

tez

Thank heavens for forums like these - makes me feel a lot better.

Anyhow, I've practically read the complete forum on this issue and noticed that the "healing process" usually varies from one to another but can anyone please advise about this:

I had to undergo clavicle surgery 3 months ago because the surgeon said that the bone was displaced pretty badly but now that 3 months have passed, I feel as though there are a ton of bricks on my shoulder making me slouch.

Another thing is that the area where the surgery was done on is still numb.

I discussed this problem with my doctor but he said that some major muscle was damaged and referred to me to a physiotherapist who gave me guidelines on exercises to follow and it's been a month but everything is still the same.

Can anyone please advise if this is normal? Is there any exercise that can help alleviate the pain as I haven't been able to get a decent's night sleep since the surgery?

Chuck Eufarley

NO SURGERY!!!!!!!!!!!!! Look your clavical will heal by itself in about 6 weeks.It should have not issues with your back.I have had three shoulder surgeries and broken right and left clavicals. Unless it is an ugly break that you are going to problems with recovery, Iwould not recomend surgery. As part of your reb. include strenght training on your back muscles also.

joeoh

I broke my left clavicle a week ago by falling from my skateboard on blacktop. My collarbone is a break in the middle and the bone that is closer to my sterum is overlapping the other by about 2cm and my orthopaedist gave me the option of surgery or leaving it alone. He told me the pros and cons of both and didn't suggest one thing more than the other. I am a student and must cover 20% of my insurance costs and my biggest concern is just having this bump sticking out. I am quite active as I surf, lift weights and run... any advice for my situation would be deeply appreciated.

Chuck Eufarley

Funny thing about skateboards, they really like collar bones. Broke my right one on a "BANZAI" skateboard in '75(Hey I know). Broke by left one in '89 on a skateboard too. As far as the knot, at least mine were close to center, and there is one on each side.Never had any problems with them using the "old fashion" method. Shoulders are real tricky. Good luck.

skurtik

Thanks for the hints - I still take the calcium for a placebo. I have been taking my arm out of the sling and flexing the elbow and shoulder regularly. It has been 4 weeks since the surgery and I am surprised at how little stamina I have (I just started walking around the neighborhood) and I still rest all day and need pain pills to sleep. If I need to be active during the day, I have to take vicadin which I like to avoid. Is that normal after this type of surgery (my clavicle was shattered so they had to tie down the bone as there was no shoulder end to pin/plate together)? I am usually a very active person, so this is new territory.

katiej

ok, one for the girls, after the surgery what did you do about wearing bra's? any suggestions?

skurtik

I wore a strapless bra. They come in packs of 2 at Costco.

kip73

update time.

fracture clinic appt yesterday gave the all clear to stop using the sling except in busy places to stop people knocking me. the bone has joined just under the plate but there isn't full union yet and it's been 6 weeks since the op. this isn't a big issue as union will happen but it wouldn't have on it's own so surgery was definately the right choice for me.

as for pain, none at the op site, as was demonstrated by the consultant prodding the bone and plate loads during the exam. my shoulder is really stiff and all my physio is based around getting movement back although at the moment it is all assisted passive stuff. this is because i am an active person and they said if they didn't put the constraints on my movements then i could do more damge than good. starting to get sore because muscles and stuff haven't been used for ages.

i am signed off for another 2 weeks but won't be allowed back to PE teaching until given the all clear by my Dr, so who knows when that will be. The school have to cover themselves and luckily half term is coming up so i wouldn't be teaching til Nov 6th anyway.

As for bra's, T-shirt bra's with pading stay up on their own on the side you can't wear the strap on although my dressing clinic suggested wearing the strap really loose and putting some dressing padding under it.

I can't believe how quickly the 6 weeks have gone since the op and, although it will be a while til i'm all fixed again, it was definately the right choice for me.

katiej

Well it's been 20 weeks since I broke my collar bone, treated conservatively-rested with a sling, and last week they decided that it wasn't calcifying and there was still movement. I am now booked in for my plate on 10th Nov. It wasn't hurting too badly until I started doing normal things like moving furniture and painting ceilings. Now it's hurting and my back is killing me. I'll be glad to get it fixed, i'll have a lump but at least everything will be in the right place and i won't have the huge lump.

Bit anxious as I live on my own. How well were you able to cope after 2/3 days. did you really need someone around or able to manage. Thinking about asking someone to stay for a couple of days to give me a hand. I also have a supply of take away delivery numbers on hand .

Any one have any idea how soon they can take the plate out.

Is the plate visible through the skin? I'm a bridesmaid next year.

Chuck Eufarley

Sorry 'bout that! The first couple of days are STRANGE!!!, to say the least. Please..... Have someone help you the first couple of days. A friend. family, paper dude, it don't matter. DO NOT COME HOME TO CARE FOR YOURSELF!!! I don't care, you ain't that macho! Look cuttin' on the bod', da has got to be recoop time, if you you have to, stay at a motel with good room service!!! For real, get someone to stay, or stay with someone a day or two. ...GOOD LUCK..... talk to me.

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"'til the wheels fall off"

BarryJG

Hello everyone,

After breaking my clavicle and reading all of this great info on clavicle breaks I figured I should post my little story. A women in a SUV not paying any attention, completely cut me off and stopped in front of me in my local park while I was riding my bike where I always ride my bike because cars know they are to look out for cyclists and pedestrians in the park and NEVER drive to the left. Well she for some stupid reason did. I tried not to hit her, slammed on the breaks and went over the handle bars doing around 15-18mph and hit the ground hard. I dislocated my index and middle finger of my left hand, ended up with like 15 or so stitches in my right ear and broke my right clavicle into 4 pieces. The day after this, I saw an orthopedist who said that my break was pretty bad but they "don't usually operate on clavicles" because they heal themselves. My uncle broke his pretty simply and it did heal on its own. But when I looked at my X-rays I thought it looked pretty bad and if it was to heal like it was I would never be the same. I had bad tenting of the skin where the bone was trying to puncture. So he told me to come back in a week. Stayed in the figure-of-8 brace for a few days but didn't feel it was doing anything so I took it off and just wore the sling. The next week the Dr. took 2 more X-rays and said we should still just wait to see what happens, but noted that he were to send me to this other Dr. that he would say to have surgery. So to me that means that I needed surgery and after reading all these posts thought that it would be the best bet. After the last visit with the Dr. he said to come back in 2 weeks to see how things were. I was not happy with his answer. So I got a second opinion from a well recommended sports/orthopedist Dr. He took 1 look at my skin tenting from the broken bone, 1 look at the X-rays and said that I should have had the surgery done already and that I needed it done that week by either my Dr. or him. So I forgot about the first guy and went to him that Thurs. for the surgery. A titanium plate and screws.

I cannot tell you all how very happy I am to have had this done!!! Today is exactly 3 weeks from my fall and 1 week from surgery. I started going back to the gym today with NO pain in my shoulder. Not lifting anything really with this arm, just moving it up and around. I feel like myself again. The surgery was so simple. They started at 10am and I was home in bed by 1pm same day. I was in some pain the first day but that quickly subsided the next. Was also overshadowed by the horrible rash that I got from the pain killers. Be careful with that oxycodone!! If you start scratching alot, stop taking it. I got a rash over my entire body. The Dr. also did not use any stitches, just disolveable ones under the skin and butterfly over the top. I have a slight bit of numbness on my shoulder but I really dont care about that. Having a mostly working arm again is more important. The Dr. said that I had more then a 2cm displacement and that would never heal on its own. Even if it did heal together, I would imagine that 2cm shorter of a shoulder would lead to all kinds of problems later in life. Also if it did puncture the skin that would be a bigger problem possibly leading to bad infection.

For the cases of bad breaks with a lot of displacement and in multiple pieces, I would lean toward surgery. Your recovery time can be very minimal and you will have a clavicle pretty much as it was before but with some added hardware. As with all, I might need to have the plate removed in 18 months, but I dont mind either way. Having a working body is something that I won't take for granted anymore!!!

Cheers

Chuck Eufarley

Agree!!! Sometimes the knife is the best way , just don't like the thought.

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"'til the wheels fall off"